Clothes hampers



June 12, 1956 c. FUERST CLOTHES HAMPERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 10,1952 a R. 7 s W ma we F 4 L i c 1 1 0 .AQ Z

June 12, 1956 c. FUERS T CLOTHES HAMPERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept.10, 1952 INVENTOR. 614/?4 FUEYJ'T United States Patent CLOTHES HANIPERSCarl Fuerst, Beechhurst, N. Y., assignor to Gleitsmans, Inc., LongIsland City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 10,1952, Serial No. 308,734

2 Claims. (Cl. 312-206) This invention relates in general toimprovements in clothes hamper-s.

One object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedclothes hamper having a receptacle for soiled clothes and linen and acompartment which may be used to contain articles of a differentcharacter segregated from the contents of the main compartment.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedclothes hamper which has integrated therewith a separate articlecompartment, the hamper resembling a conventional hamper in the normalpositioning of the hamper in a room.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an improvedclothes hamper having a separate article compartment which is ofimproved construction and appearance, and in which articles, for examplea brush for cleaning the bowl of a water closet, may be disposed andconcealed from view.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of animproved clothes hamper having a separate article compartment whichtakes up no more space than a conventional clothes hamper.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more fully understood from the following descriptionconsidered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of a clothes hamper embodying thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a rear perspective view of the clothes hamper taken on asmaller scale;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified form of clotheshamper;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 77 of Fig. 5 with theseparate compartment door shown in a closed position.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and more particularly to Figs. 1through 4 thereof, there is shown a hamper 10 which comprises a frontwall 11, a closed bottom 12, upright side walls 14, a top cover 16, arear wall 18 and a separate article compartment 20. The upright sidewalls 14 and the rear wall 18 may be made from any suitable conventionalmaterial such as wicker work as indicated at W. The front wall 11 may beformed of sheet metal as indicated at M, although if desired, said frontwall may also be formed of wicker work W. The top cover 16 of the hamper10 is hinged to said hamper at 22 and is swingable from the normalclosed position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 to an open position shown inbroken lines in Fig. 2 for access to the main compartment 24 whichnormally serves as a storage receptacle for soiled clothes and linen. Ifdesired, the bottom 12 of the hamper 10 "ice may be suitably perforatedas indicated at 26 to provide ventilating holes for the main compartment24 of the hamper.

The separate article compartment is constituted by a rearwardly recessedportion 28 of the front Wall 11 as shown in Figs. 1 through 3. As bestshown in Fig. 3, the recessed portion 28 is of five-sided cross section,although it will be understood that said recessed portion may be of anyother suitable contour. As shown in Figs. 1 through 3, the recessed wallportion 28 of the front wall 11 extends vertically of the hamper 10 forsubstantially the full height of said front wall and is positionedsubstantially centrally thereof. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1through 4 the front of the compartment 20 is left open and lies in theplane of the front wall 11. From the above it will be seen that therecessed wall portion 28 of the front wall 11 forms the upright side andrear walls of the article compartment 20.

The separate compartment 20 is provided with a top wall 30 which isdownwardly inclined towards the rear of the hamper and is preferablyformed of sheet metal, said wall being secured to the top of therecessed portion 28 in any suitable manner. The compartment 20 alsoincludes a bottom sheet metal member 32 and a plurality of horizontallydisposed shelves 34 located intermediate the top wall 30 and the bottommember 32 which is spaced slightly from the bottom 12 of the hamper. Ifdesired, the bottom member 32 may be made removable from compartment 20so that said member may be used as a drip pan, as will be readilyapparent. The top Wall 30, member 32 and shelves 34 may be provided withperipherally extending flanges 36 so that said parts may be readilysecured to the recessed wall portion 28 of the front wall 11 by anyconventional means, such as welding, riveting and the like. If desired,the separate article compartment 20 may be constructed as a separateunitary structure and secured to the front wall 11 in any conventionalmanner or, if desired, said article compartment may be formed integralwith the front wall 11 as best shown in Fig. 3. The downwardly inclinedtop 30 of compartment 20 is adapted to direct articles entering the opentop of the hamper into the main compartment 24 of the hamper. Thus thedownwardly inclined top 30 constitutes directing means to facilitate andguide the entry of articles into the main compartment of the hamper. Asshown in Figs. 1 and 2 shelves 34 of compartment 20 are adapted tocontain a wide variety of articles separate from the main compartment24, for example bottled articles A.

With reference to Figs. 5 through 7 there is shown a modified form ofhamper 10' which is structurally similar to the hamper 10 except in theparticulars now to be specifically described. The separate articlecompartment 20' of hamper 10 has its shelves 34 provided with verticallyaligned cut-out portions which are provided for the reception of brushhandles or other elongated articles. Thus compartment 20' is readilyadapted to contain a variety of articles separate from the maincompartment 24' of the hamper, and said compartment 20' may readilycontain elongated articles such as the bathroom brush B, in a veryefficient and compact manner by hanging the brush B on the hook 38secured to the top 30 of compartment 20. Thus brush B is adapted to besupported by the hook 38 with the brush handle being received in thevertically aligned cut out portions 40 of the shelves 34.

The article compartment 20' is further provided with a door 42positioned at the open front of the recessed portion 28' and is hingedlysecured to the front wall 11 by means of the hinges 44. Thus the door 42is pivotally movable between open and closed positions and in the latterposition the compartment 20' will be closed to conceal the articlesdisposed therein. The door 42 at its free side edge 43, may be providedwith suitable latch means which in the illustrated embodiment isconstituted by latch 46 secured to knob 48 positioned at the outside ofthe door42, The knob 48 is pivotally mounted on the door whereby topivot the latch 46 to positions for opening and'latching the door, itbeing understood that .an adjacent portion of the recessed wall portion28 is provided with structure complementary to the latch 46.

Thus hamper 1G is structurally identical to hamper except that theformer is provided with structure adapted to contain elongated articlessuchtas bathroom brush B and is provided with a door 42 for concealingthe con tents of the compartment 20. The compartment 20 of hamper 10 isadapted to contain a wide variety of articles of esthetically desirableappearance, since said compartment is not concealed from view in thenormal positioning of hamper 10 in a room whereas the compartment 20 ofhamper 10 is adapted tocontain a wide variety of articles withoutesthetic limitation since such articles may be concealedfrom view by thedoor 42. As pointed out above, compartment 20' is also adapted toreadily support elongated articles by means of the hook 38 and thealigned cut-out portions 40 of shelves 34'.

It will be readily apparent that the hampers 10 and 10, having theseparate compartments 20 and 20', respectively, are readily adapted fora multitude of household uses, and said compartments may be used tocontain a wide variety of household articles. In the normalpositioningof. the hampers 10 and M in a room, they resemble aconventional hamper and take up no more space than a conventionalhamper. The hamper 10' also has integrated therewith a very convenientarrangement for containing and concealing a water closet brush, and thelatter is readily accessible on opening of the door 42 to compartment20.. If desired, the downwardly inclined top 30' may be made movable orremovable to provide access to the compartment 20' through the topopening of the hamper when cover 16 is pivoted to the open position. Aspreviously pointed out, the article compartment 20 may be formedintegral with the front wall 11' or, if desired, may be formed as aseparate unitary structure and secured to said front wall in anyconventional manner to facilitate the manufacture of the separatearticle compartment and its assembly to its complementary hamperstructure.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that various changes may be made in thepresent invention without departing from the underlying idea orprinciples of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is:

l. A hamper, comprising a receptacle having an open top, a bottom, andvertical walls including a front wall, said front wall having a portionthereof recessed towards the rear of the hamper and extendingsubstantially vertically of the hamper centrally thereof forsubstantially the full length of said front wall, said recessed portionbeing open at the front of the hamper and having a closed top and bottomand at least one horizontally positioned shelf disposed intermediatesaid top and bottom of said recessed portion, the latter forming acompartment separated from said receptacle for the storage of articlesand including a rearwardly disposed substantially vertically extendingperipheral wall, and a top cover movable between open and closedpositions, the latter position being efiective to cover said receptacleand said closed top of said separate compartment, said closed top beingdownwardly inclined from said front wall to said peripheral wall andhaving. a surface constituting directing means to facilitate and guidethe entry of articles into said receptacle through theopen top thereof.

2. A hamper, comprising a receptacle having an open top, a bottom, andvertical walls including a front wall, said front wallhaving a portionthereof recessed towards the rear of the hamper and extendingsubstantially vertically thereof, said recessed portion being open atthe front of the hamper and having a closed top and bottom and aplurality of horizontally positioned shelves disposed therein, saidshelves having vertically aligned cut-out portions adapted for thereception of elongated articles and. said closed top having means forsupporting the elongated articles received in said cut-out portions,said recessed portion forming a compartment separated from saidreceptacle for the storage of articles and including a rearwardlydisposed substantially vertically extending peripheral wall, and a topcover movable between open and closed positions, the latter positionbeing effective to cover said receptacle and said closed top of saidseparate compartment, said closed top being downwardly inclined fromsaid front wall to said peripheral wall and having a surfaceconstituting directing means to facilitate and guide the entry ofarticles into said receptacle through the open top thereof, and anopaque door positioned at said open front of said recessed portion andmovable between open and closed positions, said door in theclosedposition thereof being effective to close said compartment andconceal the contents thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

